The Securities and Exchange Commission’s National Examination Program (NEP) published its examination priorities for 2013. The examination priorities address market-wide issues as well as issues with respect to the following program areas: (i) investment advisers and investment companies, (ii) broker-dealers, (iii) market oversight and (iv) clearing and transfer agents.

The NEP identified the following as the most significant market-wide examination priorities:

• Identifying market participants engaged in fraudulent or unethical behavior;
   
• Understanding firms’ approaches to enterprise risk management and how they govern and manage financial, legal, compliance, operational and reputational risks;
   
• Looking at overall risk governance frameworks regarding the management of conflicts of interest and the sufficiency of disclosures made to investors regarding conflicts of interest; and
   
• Conducting examinations on supervision of information technology systems with respect to operational capability, market access, information security, risks of system outages and data integrity compromises.

Click here for an outline of the focus of the Investment Adviser-Investment Company Exam Program, the Broker-Dealer Exam Program, the Market Oversight Exam Program and the Clearance and Settlement Exam Program.

Click here for the 2013 Examination Priorities.